Jim
Jim was given to 38 boys in 2025, #3,158 among boys’ names; 153,938 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 73,700 Americans named Jim and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (48% of everyone recorded); the median is 66 years old and half are between 61 and 76.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Jim by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Jim mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Jim is “a diminutive of the male given name James.”
/d͡ʒɪm/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Jim?
#3,158 among boys’ names, 2025
Jim fell from #2,830 in 2015 to #3,158 in 2025 among boys’ names, although its share of boys born rose from 21.9 to 22.2 per million.
5,697 babies in 1959, the peak
Jim peaked in 1959, when 5,697 babies were given it (5,688 boys, #70 among boys’ names). The 38 births of 2025 are under 1% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 38 | #3,158 | 0.02 |
| 2024 | 23 | #4,490 | 0.01 |
| 2023 | 27 | #4,057 | 0.02 |
| 2022 | 34 | #3,435 | 0.02 |
| 2021 | 37 | #3,210 | 0.02 |
| 2020 | 40 | #2,951 | 0.02 |
| 2019 | 39 | #3,073 | 0.02 |
| 2018 | 39 | #3,020 | 0.02 |
| 2017 | 37 | #3,157 | 0.02 |
| 2016 | 43 | #2,810 | 0.02 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 42 | #2,830 | 0.02 |
| 2014 | 63 | #2,162 | 0.03 |
| 2013 | 60 | #2,187 | 0.03 |
| 2012 | 58 | #2,249 | 0.03 |
| 2011 | 61 | #2,156 | 0.03 |
| 2010 | 64 | #2,105 | 0.03 |
| 2009 | 61 | #2,192 | 0.03 |
| 2008 | 88 | #1,727 | 0.04 |
| 2007 | 79 | #1,837 | 0.04 |
| 2006 | 97 | #1,542 | 0.05 |
| 2005 | 92 | #1,538 | 0.05 |
| 2004 | 102 | #1,398 | 0.05 |
| 2003 | 101 | #1,350 | 0.05 |
| 2002 | 117 | #1,195 | 0.06 |
| 2001 | 105 | #1,267 | 0.05 |
| 2000 | 120 | #1,155 | 0.06 |
| 1999 | 104 | #1,217 | 0.05 |
| 1998 | 123 | #1,066 | 0.06 |
| 1997 | 129 | #996 | 0.07 |
| 1996 | 157 | #873 | 0.08 |
| 1995 | 158 | #858 | 0.08 |
| 1994 | 171 | #806 | 0.09 |
| 1993 | 167 | #818 | 0.09 |
| 1992 | 195 | #739 | 0.10 |
| 1991 | 184 | #749 | 0.09 |
| 1990 | 219 | #683 | 0.11 |
| 1989 | 193 | #706 | 0.10 |
| 1988 | 215 | #646 | 0.11 |
| 1987 | 241 | #583 | 0.13 |
| 1986 | 222 | #598 | 0.12 |
| 1985 | 207 | #608 | 0.11 |
| 1984 | 256 | #541 | 0.14 |
| 1983 | 279 | #502 | 0.16 |
| 1982 | 313 | #483 | 0.17 |
| 1981 | 319 | #466 | 0.18 |
| 1980 | 302 | #486 | 0.17 |
| 1979 | 369 | #415 | 0.21 |
| 1978 | 359 | #410 | 0.22 |
| 1977 | 408 | #391 | 0.25 |
| 1976 | 420 | #373 | 0.27 |
| 1975 | 439 | #372 | 0.28 |
| 1974 | 541 | #326 | 0.34 |
| 1973 | 585 | #302 | 0.38 |
| 1972 | 707 | #275 | 0.44 |
| 1971 | 934 | #246 | 0.53 |
| 1970 | 1,259 | #204 | 0.68 |
| 1969 | 1,427 | #190 | 0.80 |
| 1968 | 1,502 | #177 | 0.86 |
| 1967 | 1,806 | #151 | 1.0 |
| 1966 | 2,197 | #136 | 1.2 |
| 1965 | 2,772 | #116 | 1.5 |
| 1964 | 3,644 | #101 | 1.8 |
| 1963 | 4,237 | #92 | 2.1 |
| 1962 | 4,715 | #85 | 2.3 |
| 1961 | 5,352 | #78 | 2.5 |
| 1960 | 5,549 | #75 | 2.6 |
| 1959 | 5,688 | #70 | 2.7 |
| 1958 | 4,921 | #87 | 2.3 |
| 1957 | 3,543 | #106 | 1.6 |
| 1956 | 2,188 | #148 | 1.0 |
| 1955 | 1,699 | #167 | 0.82 |
| 1954 | 1,593 | #174 | 0.78 |
| 1953 | 1,535 | #173 | 0.78 |
| 1952 | 1,523 | #172 | 0.78 |
| 1951 | 1,595 | #164 | 0.85 |
| 1950 | 1,930 | #139 | 1.1 |
| 1949 | 2,725 | #108 | 1.5 |
| 1948 | 3,808 | #86 | 2.2 |
| 1947 | 4,640 | #77 | 2.5 |
| 1946 | 4,336 | #73 | 2.7 |
| 1945 | 3,625 | #68 | 2.7 |
| 1944 | 3,744 | #68 | 2.7 |
| 1943 | 3,682 | #75 | 2.6 |
| 1942 | 3,514 | #74 | 2.5 |
| 1941 | 2,843 | #80 | 2.3 |
| 1940 | 2,715 | #78 | 2.3 |
| 1939 | 2,636 | #75 | 2.4 |
| 1938 | 2,497 | #81 | 2.3 |
| 1937 | 2,347 | #82 | 2.2 |
| 1936 | 2,268 | #85 | 2.2 |
| 1935 | 2,244 | #90 | 2.2 |
| 1934 | 2,207 | #90 | 2.1 |
| 1933 | 1,875 | #98 | 1.9 |
| 1932 | 1,765 | #104 | 1.7 |
| 1931 | 1,520 | #116 | 1.5 |
| 1930 | 1,464 | #125 | 1.3 |
| 1929 | 1,290 | #132 | 1.2 |
| 1928 | 1,237 | #137 | 1.1 |
| 1927 | 1,293 | #136 | 1.1 |
| 1926 | 1,165 | #143 | 1.0 |
| 1925 | 1,124 | #147 | 1.0 |
| 1924 | 992 | #160 | 0.88 |
| 1923 | 867 | #167 | 0.79 |
| 1922 | 881 | #169 | 0.81 |
| 1921 | 879 | #165 | 0.80 |
| 1920 | 838 | #165 | 0.79 |
| 1919 | 848 | #158 | 0.87 |
| 1918 | 827 | #165 | 0.82 |
| 1917 | 774 | #163 | 0.84 |
| 1916 | 684 | #177 | 0.77 |
| 1915 | 668 | #170 | 0.79 |
| 1914 | 513 | #174 | 0.78 |
| 1913 | 473 | #154 | 0.92 |
| 1912 | 401 | #149 | 0.93 |
| 1911 | 245 | #134 | 1.1 |
| 1910 | 331 | #100 | 1.7 |
| 1909 | 259 | #105 | 1.6 |
| 1908 | 220 | #117 | 1.4 |
| 1907 | 281 | #90 | 1.9 |
| 1906 | 261 | #90 | 2.0 |
| 1905 | 236 | #95 | 1.8 |
| 1904 | 266 | #85 | 2.1 |
| 1903 | 257 | #84 | 2.2 |
| 1902 | 300 | #77 | 2.4 |
| 1901 | 239 | #81 | 2.2 |
| 1900 | 399 | #68 | 2.7 |
| 1899 | 261 | #71 | 2.5 |
| 1898 | 269 | #77 | 2.2 |
| 1897 | 252 | #75 | 2.2 |
| 1896 | 281 | #71 | 2.4 |
| 1895 | 278 | #71 | 2.4 |
| 1894 | 287 | #70 | 2.5 |
| 1893 | 255 | #74 | 2.3 |
| 1892 | 334 | #64 | 2.7 |
| 1891 | 288 | #63 | 2.8 |
| 1890 | 336 | #62 | 3.0 |
| 1889 | 328 | #58 | 3.0 |
| 1888 | 362 | #56 | 3.0 |
| 1887 | 339 | #50 | 3.3 |
| 1886 | 389 | #49 | 3.5 |
| 1885 | 370 | #46 | 3.4 |
| 1884 | 346 | #55 | 3.0 |
| 1883 | 322 | #52 | 3.1 |
| 1882 | 396 | #45 | 3.5 |
| 1881 | 323 | #47 | 3.2 |
| 1880 | 345 | #49 | 3.1 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Jim a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Jim has been given almost only to boys: 816 girls in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Jim: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Jim, and how old are they?
73,700 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 48% of the 153,938 Americans ever recorded as Jim. The median Jim alive today is 66 years old; half are between 61 and 76.
The 2020 Census counted 99,345 people named Jim (415 women and girls, 98,930 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 87,127 born in the U.S. The Census count is 14% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 10,400 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 44,100 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 13,800 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 3,320 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 1,470 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 518 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Jim born?
The states with the most babies named Jim are California, Texas and Illinois, with 27% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 19,352 | not ranked | 1.9× |
| Texas | 10,197 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| Illinois | 8,742 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Ohio | 8,659 | #1,368 | 1.1× |
| Michigan | 7,004 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Missouri | 5,497 | not ranked | 1.5× |
| Washington | 5,352 | not ranked | 2.5× |
| Oklahoma | 4,705 | not ranked | 2.0× |
| Indiana | 4,653 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| Iowa | 4,600 | not ranked | 1.8× |
Where Jim is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Jim is most over-represented in Washington: since 1910 it was given 2.5 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Jim with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Jim
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Jim and names like it
- Compare Jim and TomBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sJim peaked in 1959.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Jim since 1910.
- The top names of 1959The year the most babies were named Jim.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Jim alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with JMost given first.